Consider Wednesday night a reminder.
Yes, the story of this U.S. Open tournament has been the American men.
Two of them, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, playing for a spot in the final, looking to snap the 21-year drought this country has gone without a man winning a Grand Slam title.
But the No. 1 seed is still standing, and he’s looking like the one to beat.
Jannik Sinner arrived in Queens hounded by his performance-enhancing drugs scandal.
It has not been a distraction on the court.
He dropped the first set he played at the Open, and just one since, moving into the semifinals with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over 2021 U.S. Open champion and fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Whichever American man survives Friday, will likely have to get past Sinner on Sunday.
He will meet No. 25 Jack Draper in the other semifinal.
“I’m lucky that I played already with these kind of feelings, but let’s see,” said Sinner, the only semifinalist to have won a Grand Slam. “You know, it’s going to be very interesting to see. I’m happy to be in this position trying to play some great tennis.”
It was a strange match between the two highest-seeded players left on the men’s side.
Sinner dominated the first and third sets, Medvedev the second.
The fourth set was even until Sinner broke through, taking advantage of a loose Medvedev service game to go ahead 4-3 when the Russian left a forehand wide.
Sinner closed out the match on his serve, ripping an inside-out forehand winner.
“It’s tough [facing him],” Medvedev said. “I mean, he’s one of the best players in the world, by ranking the best one, and he deserves it. He’s a tough player to play against. He feels the game well. He chooses the right shot at the right moment many times.”
This has already been a memorable tournament for Sinner, the first time he has reached the semifinals at the Open.
A title here would cap off a terrific season for the Italian, which began with him winning his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and also reaching the semifinals at the French.
That’s not the total story with Sinner’s year, of course.
The week before the final Grand Slam of the year, news broke that Sinner tested positive twice for trace amounts of the anabolic steroid Clostebol in an eight-day span.
He was docked prize money and ranking points.
Clostebol is the same drug that led to an 80-game suspension for San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr.
Sinner, however, was not suspended, because the International Tennis Integrity Agency ruled he was not at fault.
He fired his fitness trainer, who bought an over-the-counter spray containing Clostebol in Italy, and the physiotherapist who used it for a cut on his finger before treating Sinner and transferring the substance to his body.
The ITIA determined that the low levels of the drug were “a result of contamination from a support team member, who had been applying an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol to their own skin to treat a small wound.”
A few players, most notably Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios, have questioned how the case was handled.
But there’s no doubting Sinner’s play in Queens.
“Obviously in the beginning it was a tough situation,” he said. “But, you know, day by day, it went better. So I’m happy about that. Let’s see now in the semis what I can do.”
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